Page:Mexico as it was and as it is.djvu/131

 It is well known to all who have read the history of Mexico, that at the period of the conquest by Cortez, this Island was a spot sacred to sepulture and sacrifice.

Owing to the inertness of the Mexican Government, no thorough exploration has as yet been made, but it has been left to the enterprise of commanders of vessels, and especially of vessels of war, who, taking advantage of their detention at anchor under the lee of the island, have rummaged the sands in search of Indian remains, which have been carried to other lands, and are thus for ever lost to Mexico.

In 1841, Monsieur Dumanoir, who commanded the French corvette Ceres, undertook to explore the island. In the centre of it he discovered sepulchres, the bones in which were in admirable preservation; vases of clay, adorned with paintings and engraved; arms, idols, collars, bracelets, teeth of dogs and tigers, and a variety of architectural designs. In one place he found a vase of white marble; and in the Museum at Mexico there is now preserved another, also found at Sacrificios, of which the following is the classic shape and adornment:



I give the form of another vase found in this island, which, though neither beautiful nor classical as the one above represented, is remarkable for the oddness of its outline.